Daijiworld Media Network - Lahore

Lahore, Apr 16: Amir Hamza, a founding member of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was shot and injured by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Lahore on Thursday, police said.

Hamza sustained bullet injuries in the attack and has been admitted to a hospital, where he is undergoing treatment.

The incident comes amid a continuing pattern over the past few years in which several India-designated “most-wanted” terrorists and senior operatives of groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) have been killed under mysterious circumstances in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Many of these incidents have been attributed by local reports to “unknown gunmen,” fuelling speculation over targeted eliminations.

Last month, Muhammad Tahir Anwar, brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, reportedly died under mysterious circumstances. Earlier, in 2024, top LeT operative Abu Qatal was shot dead in Pakistan.

A similar trend was observed in 2023, when multiple high-profile figures were eliminated. These included Paramjit Singh Panjwar, who was shot dead in Lahore, and Shahid Latif, an accused mastermind of the 2016 Pathankot attack, killed in Sialkot.

Other cases include the killing of Mufti Qaiser Farooq in Karachi and Akram Khan Ghazi, both reportedly shot by unidentified attackers. Meanwhile, Khwaja Shahid, also known as Mia Mujahid, was found dead under brutal circumstances in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Earlier, in 2022, Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim, one of the key hijackers of the IC-814 flight, was shot dead in Karachi.

The repeated incidents of such killings have drawn attention to a growing pattern of targeted attacks on terror operatives within Pakistan, though no group has claimed responsibility so far.